Alberta Government
The Alberta Government is divided into three co-equal sections, the Executive Council and Cabinet, the Parliament, and the Judiciary. Executive Council The Executive Council is elected At-Large every 3 years by STV, serving a fixed 3 year term. It then nominates, by majority vote within itself, members for a cabinet position (that can only be terminated by an absolute 3/5 majority vote of the parliament) that must be confirmed by an absolute majority in parliament, also serving a 3-year term. No member of the Executive Council can serve more than two consecutive terms. There must be at least 6 years time before being allowed to run again. They may veto laws which may be passed again overriding the veto by an absolute majority in the Parliament, or refer the bill to the Constitutional Court, but vetoing a law requires 4/5 members to vote in favour of doing so. A simple majority refers to the Constitutional Court. 16 Cabinet Co-Ministers and thus 8 ministries are directly elected via STV. Each candidate runs in quartets (same names are on the same option on the ballot), two men and two women, who must agree by majority on a decision before it is made, except an emergency decision, the responsibility for making them rotates each month: Ministers of Finance and Treasury Board Ministers of Justice and Solicitor General Ministers of Municipal Affairs Ministers of Labour Ministers of Health and Human Services Ministers of Education Ministers of Infrastructure Ministers of Education The other ministers are nominated by majority vote of the Executive Council, on the caveat that one must be two men and two must be women and confirmed by a majority vote in the Parliament. A person must be 25 or older to serve on the Executive Council or Cabinet and a permanent resident or citizen for 5 years. Parliament The Provincial Assembly of Alberta is elected every 3 years, serving a fixed 3-year term, in a constituency-based STV election using Droop quota, with 5-9 members in each constituency. Members of Provincial Parliament cannot serve more than 9 years out of 12. By a 3/5 majority in Parliament, they may indict any member of the provincial or local government, with a trial in a joint hearing by the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court for Alberta. If a locality is deemed to not be fulfilling its duties as defined by the Alberta Constitution or is acting in violation of an anti-corruption or electoral fairness law, it may be suspended by a 3/5 majority in Parliament for up to 90 days while a hearing is heard by the Constitutional Court, which if a verdict against the locality is returned, new elections must be scheduled within 7 days and held within 60 days. A person must be 18 or older to serve in the Parliament and a citizen or permanent resident for 3 years. A speaker in the Parliament is chosen based on an absolute majority of members. The speaker has no gatekeeping authority but can vote on any motion. At least 1/10 of the provincial parliament's members, rounded up to the nearest whole number, must endorse a motion, unless it is approved by a committee, in which case it is voted on for a first reading. All votes on the budget, constitutional amendments, amendments overriding a referendum, approving nominees from the Executive Council, and electoral rules changes are done by hand, as well as if any 1/5 of members of the assembly or senate ask for a vote by hand. Otherwise the voting is counted electronically. Parliamentary Committees In the Parliament, there are many committees. Nearly all members are on at least one, and many members are on at least two. Each committee has 12 members from the Parliament. Each caucus (defined as a party plus any independents that choose to ally themselves with the typical beliefs of any one or more parties) has a number of members on the committee decided by Sainte Lague method, and from within each caucus, their delegates to the committee are decided by sortition from all members of the caucus who are interested in the committee whose members are being determined. EG Committee A in the Parliament will, as of the most recent election, have 3 Social Democrats, 3 Greens, 1 Socialist, 2 Libertarians, 1 Progressive Conservative and 2 independents. If 15 Social Democrats have interest in the committee's function and add their names to the registrar for being randomly selected to the committee, they may be picked to serve on the committee but no human decides which member of the party is on the committee. . Each committee in the Parliament have 4 members from the public, randomly chosen who are over the age of 18 alike jury duty, who must be citizens or permanent residents for at least 3 years, and are compensated for their time and the cost of moving, and who have full job and employment security during their absence. Taking part is voluntary, although recommended and very useful as a form of community recognition and often leads to good qualifications during employment. Committee membership lasts for 4 months, possibly being able to serve for another 4 months, and you must serve at least 4 months off the committee after that before being able to go back on the committee unless all other members who could take your place have been exhausted. Each committee chooses a chair, who maintains order, but otherwise has no function. Any motion is discussed if at least 1 member of the public plus 2 members from the parliament on the committee (1 member in the Senate) second a motion, any motion is approved if it gets a majority of support from the entire committee and at least one member of the public's endorsement. The votes from the members of the public are secret, the votes of the members of the parliament are public record. Judiciary The Judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court for Alberta and the Constitutional Court of Alberta. Judges serve 18-year terms on the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, non-renewable. 1/3 is appointed by 2/3 majority vote in the parliament, nominated by an independent commission, every 6 years. There are 9 members of the Supreme Court and 12 members on the Constitutional Court. There are 6 additional special members on the constitutional court who are appointed to serve until the age of 80 but otherwise selected in the same way. Lower courts also exist and are also nominated by an independent commission and confirmed by 2/3 majority vote, however, they serve 12-year terms and 1/3 is appointed every 4 years, not 6. There are 3 additional members on each court who are appointed to serve until the age of 80. The Constitutional Court only hears cases related to the constitutionality of a law, the validity of an election, hears impeachment trials in combination with the Supreme Court, and whether a law adequately offers the ability to exercise constitutional rights and freedoms. The other courts hear all other cases, including whether a specific application of a law or regulation violated someone's rights even if the law or regulation meant for the rights to not be violated. In the event of a parliamentary indictment, a 2/3 majority is required to convict and expel from office. Referendums and Recall A referendum may be called by 2 or more members of the Executive Council, by 1/4 or more of the parliament, or by a petition signed by 7.5% of the general electorate. It is adopted if it gets a 50%+1 majority, or 60% majority with a 50% turnout if it could negatively affect civil rights, or the electoral rules or the judiciary. A law passed this way may not be repealed without another referendum permitting so unless the terms within the initiative itself permits so or indicates a time limit, or if part of the initiative is found unconstitutional and something must be amended to make it constitutional, and in such case, it must be as similar to the original proposal as possible. An amendment to the initiative within 5 years of the bill's passing must be made by a 3/5 majority in Parliament, and always must attempt to have the same spirit and effect of the original law unless the people vote to repeal the initiative later. A recall election may be held for any elected member of government or cabinet minister if a petition is signed by at least 7.5% of the electorate within a district for a member of Parliament, 10% of the provincial electorate for a member of the executive council or cabinet, and is removed by a majority vote. Only the entire constituency's members may be removed or none of them may be removed (or the class of senators that is elected at the same time as the officials being recalled). A new election takes place four weeks later to pick someone to fill out the remainder of their term. Constitutional Amendments Constitutional amendments may be proposed by a 2/3 majority in Parliament or by a petition signed by 12.5% of the electorate that voted in the previous election.They are ratified by a 55% majority in favour with a turnout of at least 50% Primaries and Party Internal Elections All political parties have a primary election 2 months before the actual election to decide whom to list as party members. For byelections to any position, this is done by IRV (STV if there are more than one position to fill at once). Card carrying members may vote for a nominee, who must receive at least 5% of the party membership (in the region for which the election is to take place, IE the entire province for the executive council and only the party members within a local constituency for a local seat) supporting them in a direct petition signed by those 16 or older (party members may support more than one candidate's petition) or else already be holding the position. Political Parties also, every 3 years, have an election within their own members to select their board of directors, their party leader, and any other positions their members-elect and is done via STV for multiple winners and Borda Count for single winners.